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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26633896">Kerosene &amp; Gasoline</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnThis_RainyDay/pseuds/OnThis_RainyDay'>OnThis_RainyDay</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marble Hornets</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Am I gonna make u wait longer? y ea, Brian's character design is the only good design in this AU, Do I hate myself for making this? no I hate myself for better reasons, Gre is so badass Im so straight for her, Im so lazy rn, Jam if u squint, Jay a little gay boyo, Jay is grumpy in this au, Jay will beat u up, Literally made an animation on this, M/M, The Bray was too strong I HAD to add it, The animation involved spoilers to what will happen because Im stupid, Tim is soft and I stan that</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 09:55:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>15,749</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26633896</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnThis_RainyDay/pseuds/OnThis_RainyDay</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Jay was a young detective, he investigated paranormal cases with his partner, Brian. However, one day, Brian was attacked in his home and went missing. Despite that, his boss, Gre, assigned him to a case with another detective, Timothy Wright, to solve the mysteries of Rosswood park. It was burning down and signed of gasoline was used. People claimed to see a ghost or something do it, but Jay thinks otherwise. After countless troubles, Jay bumps into an old friend and figures out what's been going on.<br/>Will Jay and Tim make it out alive? Will Brian turn up? Will Alex finally have a better character design for this AU?</p><p>Find out on the next episode of Dragon Ball Z.</p><p>All jokes aside, this is from my Instagram. This is also one of the AUs I made that makes more sense and is really similar to canon Marble Hornets.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Brian/Jay (Marble Hornets), Jay Merrick &amp; Brian Thomas, Jay Merrick/Brian Thomas, Jay Merrick/Timothy "Tim" Wright</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. What's to Come</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Alternate title:<br/>Help Jay find his crush or he'll beat you up</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was early afternoon when Gre called Jay into her office. Jay grumbled. He walked into her room, seeing his boss stand in front of a cork board. "Jay." She said, turning around. Gre was a woman in her early 30's. She had long dirty blonde hair and dark pink eyes. She wore a black headband and a pink scarf, she was strict and cold. No wonder why most of the staff here usually avoid talking to her when they're passing by her.</p><p>"Listen up, boy." She walked over to him and gestured for him to sit down as soon as she sat. Jay does what she says. "Parts of Rosswood park is being burned down," She informed, placing a file full of pictures on the table. "People claimed to see an apparition with supposed powers burning down the woods. I want you to go and check it out." Jay raised a brow. "apparition? No- that's not right. They don't burn down parks, Gre." He refuses the information. "Apparition or not, I've already sent someone to the park, They're waiting for you." </p><p>Gre responds. "Wait- but- my partner-" "Brian's not here." Gre cut him off, "Go to Rosswood." Jay crosses his arms. "Where's Brian then? I called him, I went to his house, I-" "Leave. <em>Now</em>." Jay furrowed his brows in anger and sighed lowly. He stands up and leaves the room, closing the door behind him and holding back the urge to slam it. </p><hr/><p>It took a few minutes to get to Rosswood. He parks his car in the lot and steps out, crossing his arms and looking around. He spots a man in a fur coat near the entrance of Rosswood. Jay walks over to him. "Sir, the park is closed off due to-" "Oh-Hey-" They cut him off. "Are you Jay?" He asks, reaching a hand out. Jay brushed his hand aside. "And you're...?" He raised a brow and looked at the man. </p><p>"Oh, I'm Tim, Timothy Wright. I'm a friend of Brian's, I work at the same department as you and..." Jay scanned the man. Tim had long bangs, sideburns and a strange taste in fashion. A long black coat with brown fur and jeans. "Where's Brian?" Jay asks, in the middle of Tim's rambling. "You didn't hear? He was attacked in his home a few days ago." Jay froze. Attacked? <em>Brian? </em>Why would anyone attack Brian? He was never a bad person!</p><p>Nobody Jay knew held a grudge against him- in fact, everyone likes Brian. "By who?" Jay asked, getting closer to Tim. The other man raised his hands. "Hey- I dunno- the investigation began a day ago or something. I'm just here because Gre assigned me to a case with you." Tim said, moving away. Jay shook his head. "Let's go." He said, walking to his car. "Rosswood is this way, Jay." Tim put his hands and his pockets. </p><p>"To Brian's house, Einstein." Jay rolled his eyes. "We can't go there, we don't have permission." Tim says, "Besides, someone dangerous may still be there." Jay grumbled loudly. He stomps over to Tim and grabs him by fur on his coat, pulling him closer. "Listen okay? You either stay here or come with me. Report to Gre and I swear I'll-" "Woah- if you were touch-starved you could've just asked." Tim joked, setting his hands on Jay's shoulder.</p><p>The lanky man moved away. "Whatever." He walked back over to his car, opening the door. "Wait! I'll go, I'll go. Let's get in my car, its a better idea to go in one car." Tim said, quickly running up to Jay. The other man sighed. "'kay." he replied casually.</p><hr/><p>Once they were both on the road, Tim started talking. "You investigate spooky stuff, right?" He asked, stealing a glance at the lanky man. "Yeah. It never ends up to be something 'spooky' though. It usually ends up to be a murder or something." Jay replies, crossing his arms. "I see, alright. Are you trans?" Tim asked, Jay looked over at him. "What's it to you?" He glared. "I noticed your bracelets. One is rainbow and the other is the trans flag. I figured you went to the pride fest." Tim replies.</p><p>"You have a problem with it?" Jay asked, "No, It must suck though, going somewhere fun alone." Tim chuckled. Jay's eyes widened, he looked away. "I'm not an a-hole. I went with Brian, I have friends." Jay says, pouting slightly. "Are you and Brian dating?" Tim asked, Jay's face lit up red- "No- what? he's my friend, Tim." He responds, shaking his head.</p><p>"Sorry, you seem like it though." Tim laughed. "Just because I'm gay, it doesn't mean I find all men attractive." Jay growled. "I wasn't saying that." Tim sighed after catching his breath. "If you're friends with Brian, you must be a good person." Jay rolled his eyes. "We met in college when I was working on a film with my old friend." Tim raised a brow. "What's the director's name?" He asked, keeping his eyes fixed on the road. "Alex, Alex Kralie. I quit because I wanted to work in the force, but I got this job instead." Jay uttered loudly.</p><p>"No wonder why your name sounded to familiar, I worked on that project too- Alex went crazy and left after you quit." Tim chuckled slightly. "He did? I don't remember you." Jay sighed. "You should've seen his face when he was rambling on and on about having no more supervisor. His writing skills aren't that good, I can see why he got mad." Tim chuckled again.</p><p>"Do you know where the rest of the cast is?" Jay asked, Tim shook his head. "Well- I do know where Seth is. He lives in Oregon with his grandma or something. I talk to him sometimes." Jay hummed. "So you're both friends?" He asked, "Yeah, I guess. Seth said he wanted to visit, but he was taking care of his grandma and all that. Seth's a nice guy, he's got good traits. I can't really think of any bad trait he's ever had." Tim replies.</p><p>Seth? Oh- the cameraman for the old movie that Alex used to work on. He never followed directions that Alex gave him, but he didn't seem to interested in being a cameraman. It's surprising he still worked on the movie until Alex left. Tim parked the car pretty far away from Brian's house. "Why'd you park here?" Jay asked, getting out of the car.</p><p>"If I parked right in front of Brian's house, someone'll call the police or something." Tim rolled his eyes. Jay sighed. He didn't want to walk that far. "Jay, it's not that far away. Come on." Tim started walking and Jay followed with crossed arms and an annoyed look. "It's a coincidence me, Brian and you work in the same department. To be honest, I actually thought you made it into the army." Tim says, looking at Jay.</p><p>"I kinda know how to fight, I did go to the academy." Jay sighed. Tim nudged Jay. "How well did you do then?" He shoves his hands into the pockets of his jacket. "I did well, I think. I was almost at the top of my classes, but Brian did better than me." Jay responds, looking away again.</p><p>"Ugh...I can't believe Gre didn't tell me about Brian being attacked." "Gre was trying to save your feelings, she cares about her workers y'know." Tim replies smiling a little. "what? You like, <em>like</em> her?" Jay asked, looking at Tim with a suspicious expression. "Jay, no." Tim denied. "She's got a husband, and kids." He rolled his eyes, "I'm not that kind of guy." Jay chuckled halfheartedly. </p><p>"I know you aren't." He smiled a little and walked forward some more, "Okay, how to we get in?" Tim asked, looking around the perimeter. "Back door, if it's locked, I'll use a key." Jay informed, walking to the backyard. "Key? You stole Brian's key?" Tim asked, "Tim, we're close friends. Besides, I have my ways." Jay grabs a hold of the handle and twists it, the door swung open with a creak. The house was dark, all the curtains were drawn and it was a mess. </p><p>"Uh- that looks haunted. Aren't you scared?" Tim asked, looking down at Jay. "No, I investigate paranormal stuff, what do you think? I'm used to the dark." Jay shook his head. He grabbed a pocket flashlight from his pocket and looked inside. "Let's go in, I don't think anyone's here." Jay steps inside, Tim followed behind. He closes the door and house becomes dark once again. However, with the help of the small flashlight Jay's carrying, they should be okay. </p><p>"Do you have a weapon?" Tim asked. Jay shook his head, "I left my taser in my car." "You have a what?!" Tim whispered loudly. "I have a taser. I thought it was necessary to have one but I haven't used it in all my years working as a detective." Jay says, shaking his head. Suddenly, a loud noise could be heard from one of the rooms in the hall. "Brian?" Jay called out. "Yeah, call for Brian, he totally didn't go missing a few days ago!" Tim scoffed. "Shut u-" Jay was tackled suddenly and Tim was struck with surprise.</p><p>"JAY!" Tim ran over to the light- but Jay wasn't anywhere near the flashlight. Dammit, of course. Tim mentally hit himself on the head and carefully but hurriedly headed towards the sound of a struggle. Then- Jay screamed. As if he was in pain. Tim grabbed the flashlight and ran towards the sounds. A figure ran past him, shoving him. "HEY! HEY!" Tim screamed for them to stop, but they were already gone.</p><p>"Tim-" Jay's voice could be heard from another room, Tim headed over, his heart was pounding and his mind was racing. Jay was on the ground, panting heavily. "Shit- shit-" Tim set the flashlight down after spotting a knife sticking out of Jay's shoulder. Blood- blood was everywhere.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Crimson Red</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Alternate title: It's Tim's fault but it's also Jay's and it isn't their fault either</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Can you walk?!" Tim asked, hands on Jay's other arm. The lanky man pulled his arm away, grunting a bit from the pain. This- this was- Tim's mind was still racing. What does he tell Gre?! Should he lie? Gre would be upset they didn't go to Rosswood. "Why didn't you run after him?!" Jay asked, his voice was loud- booming, almost. He looked more mad than in pain honestly. Tim was struggling to find words. Jay was mad that Tim didn't chase after his attacker and instead came to Jay's aid.</p><p>"Why would I go after him?! You were <em>STABBED</em>, Jay!" Tim argued, furrowing his brows, he was mad as well. "I'm <em>fine</em>!" Jay growled. He breathed in a deep breath and took the handle of the knife, he looked like he was bracing himself for more pain. Wait- was he going to actually take the knife out without anesthetics or something? "Jay, don't, let's get you to the hospital before-" "gAH!" Jay pulled it out, Tim gasped and reached his hand over Jay's shoulder, putting pressure on the wound.</p><p>"Fuck, fuck..shit.." Jay cursed, his eyes were squeezed shut and his breath was heavy, uneven. "Jay, I told you-" "Damn it, fuck, don't talk to me as if I'm a child." Jay cut him off, he was mad again. Tim rolled his eyes. Jay obviously couldn't see that he was <em>HELPING</em> him here. "Can you stand?" Tim ignored Jay's protest earlier. The smaller man nodded, moving to stand up. The blood soaked Jay's grey sweater and jacket, crimson red poured from the wound. </p><p>It wasn't bleeding as much as it did a few moments ago, but it was still bleeding. Tim helped Jay up, looking at the knife. It looked to be about 6 or 7 inches long, and it went almost all the way through Jays shoulder. The wound seemed to be really deep, Tim couldn't imagine the amount of pain Jay was in. Poor guy, he should've had his guard up more, so he could've protected Jay at least. </p><p>"Ah-" Jay almost fell, resulting in a small jolt of pain. He looked like he was on the verge of tears, but held back. "You don't have to pretend like you're okay." Tim said, taking a small step towards the back door. "I'm not pretending. I'm <em>fine.</em>" Jay replies, blinking his tears back. "It just hurts a little." He breathes, leaning into Tim a bit. "Are you tired?" Tim asked, continuing to take baby steps towards the door.</p><p>Jay nodded. "I'm dizzy, I better not die," he pushed himself away from Tim a bit, trying to steady his posture. He was slouching towards Tim, which, the burlier man didn't mind, of course he didn't. "yeah, don't. I think I want to get to know you before you kick the bucket." Tim responds, finally reaching their exit. He opened the door with the hand that supported Jay and stepped out. </p><p>"yeah, shi...I don't think that matters." Jay chuckled nervously, trying to keep up with Tim. It was getting closer to the end of the day, more people would be out in a bit. It was hot here, so more people would stick around near night.The more steps that the both of them took, the more Jay seemed to be dangling on Tim. His legs were bucking and his eyes were struggling to stay open.</p><p>"Stay with me bud, we're almost there." Tim said, spotting his car. The wounded man shook his head. "That guy-" Jay choked out, his voice was quiet and he was getting tired. "He seems familiar but I never saw him before." Tim raised his brow. "Are you going crazy? Jay, stay with me, I'm gonna get you out of this mess." Tim says, shifting his pose to get a better grip on his partner. </p><p>"I'm trying." Jay grunted at the pain, he grabbed Tim's bicep with his free arm to steady himself. Everything was becoming a blur, the sky, the houses, the forest and Tim- his voice was turning into muffled static. "Tim I..." He hazily said, trying to lift himself up. "I don't think I can-..." He trailed off, his world finally turning black. Jay passes out.</p><hr/><p>
  <em>...</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"You were never there for him! I think I would take better care of him, you can just fuck off!"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>A woman's voice was the first thing he heard as he slowly awoke. <br/></em>
</p><p>
  <em>"You can't even help him with anything he needs, he'd be dead if it wasn't for me."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>A man spoke back to the woman.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Jay stood in not so far away from the two. He felt small, weak and tired. Very tired.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He recognized the voice's owners. His parents.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He remembered this. Why didn't they ever love each other? They both had a lot of money and Jay was never neglected. In fact, they both loved him.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>So why are they fighting?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Jay covers his ears as the two argued even more.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>This wasn't what he wanted. This isn't what he deserved.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The voices suddenly come to a halt, it becomes quiet. Nothing but a quiet beep could be heard. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Why did you two go to Brian's house? I told you that place was off-limits, you can't go there." </em>
</p><p>
  <em>A familiar voice scolded. A woman's.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I'm sorry ma'am, it's my fault. I should've known better,"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Another familiar voice replied. A man's.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Should've? Ugh, I'm telling you Wright, the next time Jay is being stubborn, stop him with force if you have to. You look stronger than him, just- just be careful. I don't want to lose anymore of you."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The woman was mad, she was disappointed, but looking deeper, it was obvious there was deep rooted worry and sorrow.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>...</em>
</p><hr/><p>Jay sprung awake. He was in a cold sweat, despite the dream being pretty quiet. He blinked as a brightness settled on his vision. This seemed to be the hospital, the sound of beeping from his dream must be the machine next to him. Jay looked down at himself, he was wearing a teal colored shirt like a patient would and there was an IV thing hooked to his hand.</p><p>Jay furrowed his brows. He must've blacked out after losing so much blood. Jay grabbed the needle in his hand, pulling it out with one swift motion. He swung his legs over the bed and hopped off of his. He always tripped, and there seemed to be bandages wrapping from his shoulder to the underside of his arm. Right, he was stabbed. He heard someone walking in the room.</p><p>Jay looked up to see his new partner, Tim. A bit disappointed it wasn't Brian, but Tim was alright. They hadn't known each other for very long, but he was glad Tim cared. "Shit, you're awake. Are you okay?" the burly man walked over to him, he looked nervous and hesitant. "Yeah, sorry I worried you." Jay apologized, looking away. "Is Brian here?" Tim shook his head in a response.</p><p>"I'm sure he would want to be though. Once you've fully recovered, we can continue working on the case." Tim answers. Jay nodded. "Look..." He uttered to get Tim's attention. "Hm?" The burlier man hummed in response, waiting for Jay to speak. "I heard your conversation with Gre." He informs, recalling the dream he had. The other man perked up. "You...did...?" Tim sounded ashamed, and upset.</p><p>Jay panicked a bit. "Don't blame yourself, please-" He almost grabbed Tim's hand and shook them out of habit more than anything, but he kept his distance. After all, Tim took the blame and it wasn't his fault. "I'm sorry." He looked down, fiddling with his hands a bit. Tim shook his head and set his hands on Jay's shoulders. "Nobodies at fault then. Brian's your friend, and I understand why you want to go looking for him." Tim smiled, understanding and trustworthy. </p><p>Jay sighed, "yeah." He simply said, "sure," Tim nodded before stepping away and walking out of the room. Jay sighed again, this time, louder and breathier. Why did this happen? Jay hit his head with his wrist. "I should've just listened." He grumbled, laying back down. He turned shifted his down and pull a blanket over his body before dozing off.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The Past</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It's been a week or so, his shoulder is sore and he's also really tired. However, he couldn't stop thinking about that flashback. When he was a child. Jay was still confused, he didn't live with his parents anymore, but he still lived with them, in his mind. He's still in the past. Jay hugged his knees and looked down at the ground. Right, his parents loved him, but they didn't love each other.</p><p>The more he grew up, the more he noticed changes. His parents wouldn't stop arguing. Every little problem would be a big one to them. They argued over who would have Jay after their divorce, but Jay just moved to Alabama to live with his aunt. He still lived with her today, in her apartment. He didn't like his job, because of Gre, and the cases he has to investigate. Paranormal? It didn't seem real because most cases are just murders or something.</p><p>He seemed like a joke, but Brian loved this job and he loved doing it with Jay. Besides, Jay's most qualified for this job, he loves his aunt and he needs to keep working for her. He remembered that day when he was still in the academy. He dropped out because he had to leave the state to go to his parents' funerals. Brian waited for Jay to come back, but became a detective with Jay instead of working as a police or in the force.</p><p>Everyday was hard, as the days passed, Jay got more and more stressed. He even thought about ending his own life, but Brian was always there for him, it meant a lot. Jay barely was shown any affection by his parents as he growing, since they were always so busy fighting, and his aunt was really the only one that was there for him. Was it okay to have feelings for Brian? That's what Jay has been asking himself ever since he got his job. "Jay?" The young man was snapped out of his thoughts by a voice. An old woman's, oh- his aunt was here. Probably to visit him, she's been bringing him gifts the past few days. "Hey Aunt May," Jay greets, getting off the bed. </p><p>She sits down on the chair next to his bed, gently taking his hand. "I'm so happy you're okay," She informs, a small smile on her face. She says that every time she visits Jay, but it never changed how Jay feels every time she says it. "I'm glad I am too, how are you doing?" He asked, "Well, it'd be better if you were home though," She replies. "Yeah," He agrees, Tim walks in right after, Jay spots him behind the door frame. "Oh- Mornin' Tim," Jay greeted, the burly man walks in, giving Aunt May a greeting smile.</p><p>"Hello Mrs. May," He greets, "Oh, you know her?" Jay asked, tilting his head to the side. "Not really, I'm pretty sure everyone at the department knows her though." Tim laughed. Jay raised a brow, he was confused. "You don't know? "The cranky and moody Jay Merrick has a sweet ol' aunt." " He quotes, laughing again. Jay's face got red. "Who started that?" He grumbled, glaring daggers at Tim. </p><p>"Your buddy Brian." Tim smiled. Aunt May chuckled. "Don't be so mean, the people you work with are kind ones, be kind back." She says, patting Jay's hand. The lanky man nodded, "Alright Aunt May." He replies, Tim catches his attention with an 'ahem'. "She's also here to bring you home, is your shoulder feeling okay?" Tim asked, a serious expression on his face.</p><p>"Yeah, it's better now. I'll go change and go home." Jay responds, getting off his bed.</p><hr/><p>"We went back and found the pocket knife." Gre says, as Tim and Jay walk into her office. "It had your blood and your fingerprints. Why did you grab the handle? We could've guessed who stabbed you." Jay rolled his eyes. My attacker was wearing gloves." He informs, crossing his arms. Tim nudges him, shooting him a small look before focusing back on Gre. </p><p>"Give me a description of your attacker." The woman adjusted her scarf and grabbed a paper and pen. Jay sighs. "It was definitely a he, he was wearing-" "Wait how do you know it's a dude?" Tim asked. Jay paused, he shook his head. "I have my ways." He simply replied and continued. "He was wearing a yellow hoodie with a trench coat over it, it seems like he has a strap on his chest. I think he has a weapon other than a pocket knife, and he wore a gas mask." Jay says. </p><p>Gre nods. "Gas mask...go to Rosswood. He might be the one burning it down." Gre instructs. "But he's not an apparition, and he isn't some sort of demon either. Shouldn't someone else handle this?"  Jay asked. Tim steps up. "He's got a point there." He agrees, Gre sighs. She grumbles. "Fine, a large number of people are going missing there at the <em>same</em> time. No human can do this in such a short amount of time. Brian is also linked to Rosswood because he was last seen there before he went back home and was attacked." </p><p>Jay left the room as soon as Brian's name was mentioned, leaving Tim there with Gre. "I better go now." Tim chuckled nervously and ran after Jay. "What are you doing? She wasn't done talking-" "Brian's linked to Rosswood. There's a good chance he's alive and escaped there." Jay interrupts, Tim sighed and rolled his eyes. "Brian this, Brian that," He grumbled. "Jealous?" Jay asked, looking at Tim with a raised brow.</p><p>Tim's face turned a light pink. "Not really but we could still go out for dinner." he joked. Jay laughed. "Keep dreaming lover boy." Jay softly hit Tim's chest and left the department, getting in Tim's car. His partner got into the driver's side, twisting the key in the key hole and pulls out of the parking lot.</p><hr/><p>"In all seriousness," Tim utters, Jay looked at him, humming a bit. "Did Brian do something for you? You act like you owe him your life." He asked, glancing at Jay. The lanky man looked away. "I do." He casually replies. He could feel Tim's confused stare on him. "Brian was really the only real friend I had at the academy. He kept me from doing something stupid so I owe him my life." "Oh." Tim says, "as in...?" Jay nodded. "Yes, Tim. As in <em>death</em>." </p><p>It went quiet after, but Tim broke it once again. "I had no idea. I'm sorry." He apologized. Jay shook his head. "I guess I was being obsessive. It's not your fault." He uttered, "I really do care about other people, not <em>just</em> Brian. Aunt May, Gre, The Marble Hornets crew from college and well, you." Tim perked up, he smiled a bit and laughed.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sorry for the short chapter. I spent 3 hours working on this and I didn't realize my battery was so low. I was too late and I don't have the energy to rewrite this.</p><p>This is karma btw I literally insulted everyone and now the world is insulting me</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Surprise!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I don't think you should eat while reading this chapter. Anywho, this AU was made like, months ago and a the time I didn't know who was taller or shorter because am idiot and I haven't seen MH in like, 2 years.</p><p>So Tim's taller than Jay in this AU sdjdhsdsjj<br/>But I wanted to keep it that way for obvious reasons.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Once they got to Rosswood, they were fast on getting the investigation started. They both took a 10 minute walk to the other side of the park, where most of the burned down trees where. </p><p>Jay kneels down next to what used to a shack in the woods. It was also burnt down, mostly. The only bits left were the platform and 1 quarter of the walls. Jay noticed that the wood looked damp. "When was the last burning here?" He asked his partner, who was standing next to him with a notepad. "I think a few days ago." Tim said, looking down from his notepad to the man kneeling near the burnt down shack.</p><p>"Then why is this wood damp?" Jay asked, looking up at his partner. "There was no rainfall, so I have no idea." Tim shrugged. "Maybe it was recently burnt down? There's no doubt that this isn't gasoline. The smoke would be seen from a long dista-" A disgusting rotten smell hit Jay's nose, causing him to almost trip over himself and probably get stabbed again by the sharp splinters of what used to be the shack, he managed to catch himself though.</p><p>"What the hell? What's that gross smell?" Jay covered his nose with his palm, breathing in through his mouth. Judging by Tim's expression, he probably was aware of it too. "Its coming from behind that tree." He pointed, Jay looked over. The tree was barely burnt down, only one side was really bad. The lanky man stood up, the both of them slowly approached the tree.</p><p>When Jay saw what was the source of the smell was, he turned back in shock, hand now covering his mouth, he fought the urge to throw up. "Holy shit!" Tim cursed, flinching when he finally stole a glance. It was a dead man, he's been rotting here for god-knows-how-long. Looks like the person behind the burning of Rosswood did this. "Aren't you used to this kind of shit?! You've been working as a paranormal investigator for years-" Tim asked, finally looking at his friend.</p><p>Jay gulped, he pressed a hand to his stomach and took in a deep breath though his mouth. "Oh my god, never!" He replies, still trying to gather himself up after what he just witnessed. Tim sighed before taking out his phone and dialing Gre. "This is Timothy Wright, we found a corpse in the west of Rosswood. Send the ambulance and police." Tim said, a very formal tone.</p><p>"Where's Jay?" Gre asked, her voice loud and clear through the phone. "He's trying to regain himself at the moment." The dark haired man responded. "I'll send someone over. Are you and Mike on good terms?" Tim simply said "yes." at his boss's question. Well, that wasn't true, Mike was an asshole, everyone hated him, but when it came down to it, Mike could really protect people.</p><p>"Alright, what's going on with the body?" Gre asked, Tim could hear the sound of paper and a pen dropped onto wood. She was taking notes, right. "Burns. A lot of them. I think that was the cause of death." Tim replied, the woman hummed through the phone. "Examine the body for any signs of gasoline." She commands, "He's been here for weeks, months even- all the gasoline is sure to be gone now." Tim responds.</p><p>Mostly because he was right and because he really didn't want to get any more near the corpse. He heard the woman sigh. "Mike's on his way, just do it, burning might not be the cause of death. Is his face messed up too?" Tim groaned before taking a step closer and taking a glance at the victim's face. Well, it was mostly easy to tell who it was. Tim took a picture and sent it to Gre. "There." He uttered. "I need to check on Jay," </p><p>"Alright." Gre said before it went silent. The burly man walked over to the lanky one basically on one knee right now, trying to calm himself down. "I've n-never seen a body so decayed before..." The shorter man said, "Usually the bodies I see are fresh. Oh my god." Tim set a hand on his back and rubbed gentle circles on it. "Hey...It's alright, I'm here. We're gonna get through this together, I swear, I won't let you see this kind of shit ever again." </p><p>Jay took in a deep breath from the mouth again. He threw his arms around Tim and hugged him tightly. Tim was caught off guard, but he hesitantly held Jay as well. "I'm sorry, I'm just-" Jay sighed, burying his face into Tim's shoulder. "Hey, it's fine. I understand. You really need comforting right now." Tim hummed, moving closer to Jay until their bodies were basically pressed against each other.</p><p>Jay pulled away as soon as he was feeling okay. "Okay, I don't want to get near the body, can we just wait for Mike to come?" He asked, standing up. Tim stood up too, "Sure, buddy." He responded calmly. As much as Jay is rude, or cold- there really is a kid in him that's just timid and cares about people, but doesn't want to show people that he's weak. Tim understood now.</p><p>"You don't have to be so mean to me, y'know." Tim said. "I'll like you just the way you are." Jay rolled his eyes. "I don't want to be pitied. If I show you this side more, you'll just think I'm a little boy that needs protecting." The lanky man crossed his arms. "Well, no, not really." Tim smiled. "I like this side of you more, it's nice." The shorter man looked away from Tim. "I'll pass." He refused, pouting a little. </p><p>"Well, just letting you know." Tim informed before rolling his sleeves up. "Hey." A man's voice could be heard coming towards them. "Oh, hey Mikey." Tim greeted. "Don't call me by my real name." Mike growled at him. "Alright. Is anyone else with you?" Tim asked, setting his hands on his own hips. Mike nodded. "I brought Scott he's comin'. The ambulance are also on their way." He answered.</p><p>Tim nodded as well. "Alright, thanks, can you handle everything on your own?" He asked. "duh. Go take a break," Jay began walking off as Mike said that, Tim ran to catch up with him as soon as he realized Jay was leaving. "Thanks!" He said to the officer. "You sure do have a habit of wandering off hm?" He turned his attention to his partner. "No, I just didn't want to be there anymore." Jay hugged himself and sighed again, this time, it sounded more relieved than anything.</p><p>"What did...What did he look like...?" Jay asked, looking at Tim. The burlier man shook his head. "Hey, get your head out of the gutter. He wasn't Brian, I promise." He denied, gently hitting Jay's arm. "Right, right. Sorry- I just got worried." The shorter male sighed again for the 100th time. "I'm so stressed. First I get stabbed by a possible murderer, second, we finally have a lead and then I just cowered away when we found a dead body."</p><p>"It's fine, nothing's your fault." Tim says, snaking on arm over Jay's shoulders. His partner smiled a bit at the comforting words. "Yeah...I guess so..." He leaned into the touch a bit, making Tim a little red. He didn't expect that. Suddenly, a twig snapping caught both of their attention. Tim pulled out his gun, (After what happened he's got the strap now B)) ) Jay grabs his taser, well, there's no reason to, since Tim's the one with the gun.</p><p>"Show yourself!" Tim pointed the gun towards the woods. A man walked out with his arms raised. "Scott?" Tim lowered his weapon. Jay had never met this guy before so he still held up his taser. "H-Hey! Sorry if I scared ya, I got l-lost on the way in..." He seems like a nervous guy, anti-social. He looked to be around his early 30s or late 20s. Surprisingly, he was pretty good looking for his age.</p><p>Dark jet black hair and a pair of glasses. He had a weird scar on his face. "Uh- where's Mike?" Scott asked, lowering his hands slowly and awkwardly. Jay stared at his arms as they moved down. He raised a brow at the man, Scott eventually noticed and stepped back a bit. "Just keep walking straight down this path. He'll be right next to the body." Tim answered.</p><p>"R-Right, thanks." Scott sighed, walking pass both of the guys. "Who's that?" Jay asked, putting his taser away. Tim put aside his weapon as well. "That's Scott, but people call him the "Phone guy". Probably because he's the one who takes calls. But sometimes he goes out, usually with Mike, or Vincent." Tim answered, continuing his walk. Jay followed along. "Yeah? I never met him before." Jay put his hands in his pockets after adjusting his hat. It was almost about to fall off.</p><p>"He's been an operator for longer than we have. Back when Gre's dad was still alive." The taller man informed, "You aren't familiar with the older buds, are you?" Jay shook his head. "A bunch o' boomers." Jay joked, removing his hands from his pockets just to cross his arms. "I'm old, and you still talk to me. How old are you anyway?" Tim asked, "I'm about 25," Jay replies. "Oh, we're not too far off then, I'm 27." Tim smiles. "That's still old." Jay huffed.</p><p>"Nah, you're a "boomer" too, y'know." Jay's partner smiles. </p><p>Once they were out of the woods, a bunch of people were at the park, obvious aware of the news. There were more officers and a lot of paramedics. Reporters were here too. Tim and Jay began walking to their car, but a reporter- a woman, walked up to them. "Sir, Sir!" She caught their attention. A huge camera was held up to their faces. "Are you the investigators that discovered the body?" She asked.</p><p>"We have to go, we're in a rush." Tim responded. "Please, let us have some of your time." She pleaded. Tim rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes we are." He answered her previous question. "What do you determine to be the death of the victim?" She asked, Tim cleared his throat. "He had burns, a lot, I suppose he was killed by fire and lack of medical treatment." He was a bit awkward, since, he wasn't very used to being on TV or anything. </p><p>"Who do you think is the murderer?" She asked, a microphone also help up to his face. "Well, I don't know." Tim shrugged. "How about you?" She moved the microphone to the nervous Jay. "Uhm, well, there's a cryptic in Rosswood. He could be the one who's been burning down Rosswood and the committed the murder..." He determined. "How do you know that it's a man?" She asked.</p><p>"God fucking dammit, is it that hard to tell who has a fucking dick and who doesn't?" Was what Jay would've said, but- this was live on TV. Everyone will be seeing this, his Aunt will be seeing this. He sighed. "I have my ways." Jay answered mysteriously. He then whispered to Tim. "Can we get out of here?"he asked, Jay was sweating a bit and he was slightly trembling. "Yeah." Tim responded and opened his car.</p><p>"Wait! We still have more questions!" The reporter called for them. Tim got in the drivers side and Jay got in the passenger's side. He simply honked the horn for them to get out of the way and they both left the area.</p><p>Who knew that the first investigation was going to already be a big deal? Nobody, Jay thought they weren't going to get anywhere at first, and Tim? He didn't know. Later that day, Tim and Jay booked a motel room a few blocks away from Rosswood. Somewhere to stay near the park. Gre called them that night.</p><p>"The victim was Calvin Reid. A 26 year old man who lived with his sister. They both lived out of state, but for some reason, he was found all the way in Rosswood." The woman on the line spoke, "Calvin seemed to have been stabbed 30 times in the back before being burnt alive next to a tree " Tim was shocked. "He wasn't killed by the 30 stab wounds?!" He asked, Gre sounded disappointed. "No, if it was his chest, yes. But it seemed like the murderer wanted to torture the poor man and burn him later." </p><p>Jay was listening, he was also staring at the TV that was broadcasting the news. The woman from before was talking, he eventually got fed up with hearing her annoying voice and turned off the TV. "If you want to step out of this case, you can. After all, it's obvious the murderer is the cryptic now." Gre offers. "How about the disappearances?" Jay asks. "Don't worry about it." Gre hung up after she said that.</p><p>"Should we step out? I don't want you to go through anything like <em>that</em> again." Tim asked, Jay shook his head. "Doin' this for curiosity. And Brian." He said. "And you. If we stepped out, we wouldn't be a team anymore, I can't have that." Tim grinned at the cheesy line. "You're a good friend too." He laughed. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I need to plan a perfect time for Masky to show up SIGH.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Watch out!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next morning, Tim was nowhere to be seen. Jay didn't worry too much about it though, since, Tim was probably out to get food or something. He got up, walked into the bathroom and brushed his hair. Brushing his teeth and washing his face after. Jay put on his grayish blue sweater, his trench coat and his LGBTQ bracelets. He opened the door to the motel room and stepped out.<br/><br/>Jay yawned, wiping away the tears that came along with it. He fished out his keys but then realized that his car was at Rosswood. It had been for the past few days. He groaned and stretched. It seemed to be around 6:30 in the morning. The sun was just coming up, so that's really pretty. He started walking to Rosswood to fetch his car. Jay was looking at his surroundings on the way there, </p><p>Of course, it was a habit of his. Observing everything. Jay stopped as soon as he spotted Brian's house across the street. After the first time, there's no way the cryptic would be there anymore, Gre also took his knife. The flamethrower? He doesn't even know if it even existed. Jay crossed the street, walking into the backyard and setting his hand on the door knob. He tried to open the door, but it was locked.</p><p>Gre's team probably locked it to keep nosy stubborn people like Jay out. The brunette was about to step away, but then he remembered that he had a spare key. Jay fished out his keys away and flipped through the keys, finding Brian's house keys. Jay opens the door after unlocking it. This might be a bad idea, but he was still looking for clues. Their last investigation here was cut short.</p><p>Jay walked inside, it wad dark, darker than last time, since it was really early. A metal clink was hard at Jay's feet. The lanky man kneeled down to pick up whatever he kicked on accident, it was his pocket flashlight. He turned it on, light now illuminating his path. <em>Sweet!</em> He thought, as soon as he turned the corner though, he saw a figure sitting on the couch in Brian's room.</p><p>A trespasser? Jay squinted, a masked man, dark hair, black scarf, black jacket, and a strange looking mask. It looked like a bird, like those plague doctors with bird masks. . "Brian?" Jay called out, "Uh, hello?" Before he could say anything else, they lunged at him, Jay was caught by surprise, he felt back as he was tackled by the man. The force almost knocked the breath out of his lungs. Jay grabbed his taser and tried to turn it on, but the masked man kicked it out of his hand.</p><p>"Get the hell off me!" Jay shouted, trying to get free. The masked man pinned him down, preventing him from moving. Despite Jay's knowledge of strength and fighting, he failed to get the man on top of him, <em>off </em>of him. The cryptic suddenly had a seizure and fell back. Jay took the chance to stand up, he walked over to the man, his hand grasping his wrists. </p><p>Jay reached for the mask, but was pushed away by a force. Jay fell onto the floor with a thud and a loud groan. He stood again quickly though and grabbed his taser. The man was having a seizure, Jay didn't really want to use it, since the guy was already really vulnerable at this state. He should call an ambulance instead, Jay kept his taser out. He reached for his phone, but it wasn't there. It must've gotten knocked out of his hand when he was tackled. Wait, no. He left it back at the motel.</p><p>Jay slowly walked over to the still seizing man. He remembered what to do if someone had a seizure. Jay kneeled down next to the man and didn't bother to reach for the mask, however, it must've muffled his breathing and Jay needed to take it off. Before Jay could do anything, the man sat up again and pinned him to the ground, arms over his head. Jay tried to kick him off, but the man was in between his legs, so they were useless in this struggle. </p><p>"ArGH! Get off!" Jay demanded, he pushed his arms up to try and get the masked man off of him, but it didn't do anything. Jay reached for the taser that was knocked out of his hand, the masked man didn't seem to do anything. Then, he lets go, just to get a grip on Jay's throat. The smaller man let out choked whine, he was still reaching for his weapon though. Jay finally got a hold of it, he turned it on and pressed it against the stranger's arm.</p><p>The man fell off, Jay felt a small shock, but it wasn't anything more. Once the lanky male was able to stand up, he stared at the masked man's limp body. Jay planned on trying to find some handcuffs to use and arrest the guy, but his body was shaking, his legs and arms were sore, and he was scared more than anything. "Don't try to do that again!" Jay yelled at the man with a shaky voice. </p><p>He dashed out of the house and ran all the way back to his motel room. When he got there, Tim was still gone. Jay figured that he didn't want to go to Rosswood alone and he was lonely. So he decided to just stay in his room for then rest of the day.</p><hr/><p>When Tim returned, it was almost night time. He found Jay sleeping on one of the beds with his sweater and coat still on. Same goes to the iconic hat. Tim sighed and rubbed his head. He had woken up somewhere in Rosswood, which he had no memory of going to. He didn't even remember what happened before that. Tim was too tired, he closed the door, locked it and plopped down on the other bed, falling asleep almost immediately.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>short chapter. Gonna post another one rn<br/>This is unedited and weird btw</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Rainy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It was pouring out, the day was going by slow, Jay and Tim have already investigated Rosswood, but no new clues were discovered. No steps up the stairs. They decided to return back to the motel, but the rain slowed them down on the way. “Do you have an umbrella?” Jay asked as the two stopped under a bus stop.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, I didn’t even bring one with me.” Tim answered plainly. Jay sighed, wrapping his arms around himself to warm up. He was wearing a sweater </span>
  <em>
    <span>and</span>
  </em>
  <span> a trench coat, but it was cold enough to affect Jay. His fingers were already freezing up and a pink tint was over his nose and cheeks. “I should’ve checked the weather...” Jay groaned. “Hey, don’t blame yourself.” Tim said, “It’s not like you can magically predict the weather and remember a bunch of stuff.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The shorter man smiles a bit. “I need to talk to you...” Jay brings up, “but let’s hurry up and get to the motel. We’ll talk on the way.” Tim’s expression changes and he nodds. They both step out the shelter of the bus stop, the wet drops of water landing on Jay. He never liked the rain, he always caught a cold from it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Just hopefully this time, he wouldn’t. “I went back to Brian’s house.” Jay confesses, looking down ashamed. “Without me?” Tim asked, surprised, not mad, just shocked. “Yeah...You weren’t at the motel when I woke up yesterday, so I went on ahead to search the house for more clues to where Brian could’ve gone.” Jay sighed, looking up at his partner.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Someone was there, Tim. Not the cryptic in the yellow hoodie, another cryptic.” He informs, moving his hands to form fists. “If only I was strong enough, I could’ve fought back when he tackled me. He wore this weird bird like mask, like a plague doctor mask-- and- and this weird coat.” Jay grips his fists, “I would’ve punched him or something. I lost my taser and he probably has it.” He sighed, looking down.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Seriously, how do you know if they’re dudes or not?” Tim looked back down at him, raising a brow. “I could only tell if they’re on top of me or something. Both cryptics tackled me. I- yeah, I think you know where this is going...” Jay scratched his cheek embarrassingly. “They were both aroused when they tackled you?” Tim asked. “What? No-” Jay denied.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Unless they actually were…? I have no idea if they’re into me for not. Ugh! Whatever,” Jay crossed his arms. His face was even more pink now, not entirely from the cold. “Yeah, I still have no idea and I don’t think I want to know but-” Tim put his hands in his pockets, looking forward again. “Do you think they’re working together?” He asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jay shrugs. “I don’t know. Probably,” He says, “I don’t think Brian’s even around anymore. I should just give up on trying to find him already...” Tim sighed, he put an arm around Jay. “Huh?” the shorter man looked up in confusion. Tim pulled him closer. “Sorry, I just can’t stand you being cold.” Jay didn’t pull away. He just leaned into the touch. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Tim was a little surprised and Jay scrambled for an answer in his panicked state. “Don’t go thinking that I like you or anything- I’m just cold.” He said, looking away and pouting slightly. Tim chuckled. “Yeah, I know.” He said with an eye roll that Jay didn’t even notice. “What should we do about the cryptics though? There’s a good chance they’re murderers, should we arrest them?” He asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jay thought for a moment. “That seems like the only thing we can do. If they aren’t behind the burning of Rosswood </span>
  <em>
    <span>or</span>
  </em>
  <span> the murder, I’ll just press charges against them for assaulting me and attempting murder.” Jay answered. “Do you even have a lawyer?” Tim looked down for a moment. “No, but I can find one. I’ve got the money for it.” Jay responds.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How much do you even get paid?” Tim raised a brow. “More than I deserve. Gre said that most of the extra money she pays to me goes to Aunt May though.” Jay smiles as he snuggled into the fur of Tim’s jacket. “I mean, she deserves it. I use most of the money to take care of her anyway. Aunt May’s like a a mother to me.” He closed his eyes and sighed, a happy tone along with the soft release of breath. “I don’t know what I’d do without her. Don’t you have any family, Tim?” He looks up at his friend.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I live alone. I don’t know any family other than my mom, but she left me years ago. My dad left when he found out my mother was pregnant. I lived in a hospital my entire life.” Tim informs, “Your aunt’s great though, she deserves to have someone like you in her life.” Jay’s expression droops, he looked down and sulked a bit. “I’m sorry, I...I shouldn’t have asked. I had no idea,” Jay replies, Tim nudges him a bit with the arm snaked around him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ve got you now, don’t worry. Besides, I was friends with Brian too, up until he went missing. I’m glad I met you,” Tim forces a smile, Jay didn’t look up at him though. “Yeah, alright.” He said, leaning in as close as he could. As soon as they were at the motel, they both parted and Jay took out the key to their room. They both step inside, changed and went to sleep without exchanging any words.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The next morning they both set out for Rosswood, it had stopped raining, but it was still really wet and damp. Luckily there weren’t any burnings these past few days. Tim parks the car and they both head out. “Which part should we check?” Jay asked, “Maybe the part that was burned down a few weeks ago?” Tim answered. “Okay.” Before Jay could say anything else, his phone rung from his jacket pocket. He took it out and checked the number. Unknown caller. “Is it Gre?” Tim asked. “No, I don’t know who this is.” Jay responds. He answered the call and turned on speaker. Tim walks over to listen. “Meet me at Rosswood, the hallway. I need to talk to you.” A man’s voice could be heard coming from the other line.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Uh, this is paranormal investigator Jay Merrick, sir, Rosswood park is closed off due to fire hazards, please leave, there could be a murderer on the loose there.” Jay says formally. “I don’t care. Just meet me there.” The man said, his tone more serious. “Excuse me?” The brunette furrowed his brows. So this person had the right number, but was supposed to be a joke? “Look, I don’t want to deal with anyone’s bullshit today, you need to le-” “Alex. My name’s Alex Kralie.” The stranger said before hanging up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alex? As in the guy we used to work with?” Tim looked at Jay with confusion and slight worry. “Kralie my ass, let’s go and tell him to get out of Rosswood.” He said, stomping into the woods. “Or maybe because you want to tell him off for commanding you to do something?” Tim followed along. “That too.” Jay pouted. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hallway in Rosswood…? I don’t remember anything like that.” Jay commented. They were half way into the park, Tim shook his head. “He and Brian shot there, I remember.” He said. Jay shrugged. “Lead the way then.” The shorter man said, putting his hands in his pockets. As soon as they spotted the building, a man was standing outside. They wore a blue turtle neck sweater with a jet black shirt over it. A pair of fire resistant goggles were on their head and they had a black face mask on.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sir you need to lea-” Jay said, stepping over to them. “You need to stop acting like everything’s okay and you need to step out of this case, Merrick.” The man named ‘Alex’ said. “What?” Jay stepped back. “There’s something here, not human. If you continue to work on this, you’ll get dragged in deeper. You already dragged Brian and Tim in.” Alex hissed at the brunette. “What the hell? Who do you think you are?” Jay snarled back, Tim pulled him back though, to prevent any conflict.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What are you saying?” Tim asked the taller man. “If you keep working on this, the same thing that happened to Brian, will happen to you.” Alex warned. “Are you out of your mind?” Jay asked, but Tim pushed him back even more. “Calm down, Jay.” Tim sighed. “You’re not buying this guy’s bullshit are you?” The shortest of the three spoke, anger bundling in his chest threatening to blow up. Tim ignored him. “What do you know about Brian? What happened to him?” He asked, “All you need to know is that he’s gone, forever. You will be too, if you keep coming here.” Alex said before walking into the woods. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Tim did nothing to stop him, and Jay sat in silence. “Is he...” Jay was petrified after hearing that Brian was dead- er- ‘gone forever’. “Don’t take it like that. Alex was honest, but he would never say something like that to you, or me. He probably knows something we don’t.” Tim said, “Why didn’t you grab him and take him back to the station for questioning then?!” Jay put his hands on his own hips and huffed with anger.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t know. Something just told me to listen to him and let him go.” Tim answered. Jay hit his chest and pouted loudly. “Good excuse! There’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>nothing</span>
  </em>
  <span> here! Just cryptics, 2 detectives and 1 weird crazy dude. No paranormal activity. If there was I would’ve known by now.” Jay crossed his arms. “How sure are you about this paranormal thing?” Tim asked, looking down at him. “I’m </span>
  <em>
    <span>very</span>
  </em>
  <span> sure. I’ve been sure for the past few years now.” Jay uttered.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What if you’re wrong?” Tim asked, raising a brow at his partner. Jay was taken aback by the question. “I- Then I don’t know!” He answered, “We’ll wait and see if you know something. I’m going to keep Alex’s words in mind though. Come on, let’s go to the lake, the last burning was around there.” Tim turned around, walking back. Jay sighed, looking at the direction Alex left in and then following his partner.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Dream? Or Fantasy?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Weird chapter I wrote like, ten days ago. I just edited it after like, 3 hours.<br/>Y'know I really am proud of this.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jay taps the window sill of the the dark motel room. He thought about what Alex had said a few days ago. Brian being gone forever, and backing out of this case. "Are you thinking about what I think you're thinking about?" Tim turned around, looking at Jay. The light from his lamp shining on the side of his face, showing his features. He was quite attractive, but Jay would never notice. Unless he already had.</p><p>The boy sitting on a cheap chair near the window sill let out a long sigh. "No. Maybe. Yes. I am.." Jay admitted. "He's not dead, people lie, no matter how honest they seem." Tim sighed as well. The other man whipped around and stared at his partner as Tim turned his attention back to the desk full of papers and files. "Tim. Tell me." Jay stood up and walked over to the other male.</p><p>"Don't you have someone you love? Like, I dunno, a significant other?" Jay asks, setting his forearms down on the back of Tim's chair. The dark haired man chuckled. "I said I lived alone. Besides, who'd want to be with me?" He said, looking down. "I would." His friend leaned his head over Tim's shoulder. A small smile on his face. Tim turned his head a bit. Their faces were close, about an inch or two. </p><p>Tim leaned in closer, closing the space in between them. "Uh- if...you know what I mean. I would if I could." Jay stammered nervously. Tim nodded. "Yeah, I do." He said, turning his entire body around. Jay chuckled nervously, he closed his eyes and their lips touched. Softness against softness. Jay's lips were plump, and it was adorable how Tim could easily overpower him, but he didn't.</p><p>The taller man pressed into the kiss, causing Jay to let out a small moan. He shyly kissed back and set his hands on Tim's shoulders. He felt his lungs burn after a food minute or two of this, he pulled away, panting heavily. "Tim..." Jay uttered quietly, his face still close his partner's(Boyfriend? Lover? Friend?). The burlier man stood up, pushing Jay back until the back of his knees hit one of the beds.</p><p>"I'm sorry," Tim apologized, "Do you mind though?" Jay shook his head gently, leaning forward again. He sits down, Tim follows. The man in the fur coat straddles Jay's legs and push him softly until they both were laying down. Both of his hands moved to lace Jay's as he pinned them above his head. They both pulled away for another breath of air. "You know, I had a small suspicion that you may want me," Tim whispered into the smaller man's ear.</p><p>Jay giggled before turning his face a little and placed a small peck on Tim's cheek. No words were said, they continued their little 'activity' until eventually they decided to sleep. However, Tim could hear his own name in his head, repeating over and over again, getting louder and louder until-</p><p>"Wake up!" Jay shook the burly man awake, "You seriously slept here all night?" Tim shot awake, almost falling out of his chair as he moved back a little. "Did it happen?" He asked, "What?" The lanky male cocked his head to the side. "Last night- we-" "Yes, yes we did. More like <em>you</em> did though. You stayed up all night working on those files, I went to sleep early." Jay interrupted him. "Oh." Tim decided not to bring up the strange dream.</p><p>Or...was it more of a fantasy? He shook his head and stood up. "Let's get to Rosswood, I think I may had an idea. It involved Alex." Tim's tone changed, he was serious all of a sudden. It surprised Jay just a little bit. He seemed to nervous and confused before. No matter, it was probably the aftermath of sleeping to late.</p><hr/><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>oop why r u looking at me like that bro.<br/>yeah its short but theres meteor shower and me need to go see</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Greatela G. Grell</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>woA a chapter all about Gre<br/>Yeah she was really random and uncreative but I'm starting to like her more</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>His weird dream was on his mind all day. It never left his brain. Feelings were developing for Jay, and they grew larger by the day. "Alex might be responsible for Brian's disappearance." Tim said, pulling out a specific file, it looked normal, the same as any other file back at the department. Jay stepped closer as Tim flipped the file open, using his finger to quickly look through each of the papers.</p><p>The heat from Jay's body near Tim's distracted him, he wanted to push Jay away so he could focus, but at the same time, he wanted Jay to lean in closer. This was no fairy tale or another dream(?), "Space, please." Tim uttered to his partner, the shorter male did so, muttering a small 'sorry'. How agonizing it was to not feel that heat anymore. Tim was pulled out of his thoughts when he found a certain paper.</p><p>"Look, Brian's disappearance wasn't in the news. Only Brian's family, the department and the police know. Gre said it'd be helpful to another case if they didn't tell anyone." Tim informed, "She was right. Alex was responsible for this, I know he is. He knew about the disappearance. Alex doesn't even talk to Brian's family and he doesn't work as a police or as a detective." </p><p>Jay's expression changed, it was like a bright light-bulb was lit in his head, "He also has a connection to Rosswood. There's definitely a good chance he's a murderer too!" Jay smiled and looked up at Tim with a great amount of gratitude, but that soon changed when a gunshot rang out in the woods, and smoke was seen coming from above. "There's another burning!" Tim shouted, "What was that gunshot then?!" Jay asked,</p><p>"Probably Alex." The taller male said, "We need to get in there, come on!" The lanky one spoke, taking a step into the woods. Tim grabbed his wrist and yanked him back. He was about to say something, but the small physical contact just made him lose his train of thought. "What?!" Jay snapped Tim out of his trance. "Er- it's dangerous, we need to get out of here and call Gre." Tim said.</p><p>"I'm already here." A woman stepped in between them. That iconic pink scarf and outfit, her golden hair blew in the wind like some kind of fairy tale princess. "Boss," Tim jumped back a bit. "I'm a chief," She grumbled at him, taking out her notes. "I heard a gunshot and saw the smoke, I came as fast as I could." Gre said, jotting down things in her notebook immediately. "And Jay," She turned to the shorter one of the two, "You're an idiot." Jay perked up and was about to yell at her, but another gunshot rang out.</p><p>It was more faint, like they're deeper into the forest, "We have to do something before people get hurt." Jay spoke, "There's no one in those woods," Tim said, "Yes there is. Alex and the cryptic. They're still humans." The woman took out her phone and dialed someone. "Scott, this is Chief Gre, send backup. Don't let those annoying TV people near this place, and don't answer their questions." She demanded.</p><p>A faint voice of a man spoke before she hung up and walked to her car. Jay looked at Tim, and Tim shrugged as a response. Gre walked back with a huge rifle in her hands. "Why do you need that?" Jay asked, "The gun sounded like a rifle, or a shotgun. I have competition." She laughed for a brief second and her tone was serious again, it almost scared Jay.</p><p>"This is a RPD." She informed, looking at Tim. "I know all types of rifles, Gre. What do we need to do?" He asked, "I'm going in alone. Tell me who you need to find." She said, "I can tell you're looking for someone in Rosswood." ""Alex, Alex Kralie. He's tall, light brown hair and goggles. He's the gun carrier." Tim informed Gre. She nodded before stepping into the woods.</p><p>"Woah." Jay said in awe, watching as she ran. "I know right? Running heels on?" Tim moved to stand next to his partner. "No, she's a badass, I have never met a woman so fierce before. Does she wrestle?" Jay asked, "I've only known Gre for a good few years. She never talked about herself." Tim answered, "She shoots a lot." Scott walked up from behind them.</p><p>"If she dies in there, what are we gonna do?" Jay asked the probably creepy man that spoke to them. Scott didn't answer, he walked away instead. "Well, that worked to get rid of him." Tim joked, Jay looked down. "What <em>are</em> we going to do though?" He asked, keeping his head down. "I don't know." Tim crossed his arms, fighting the urge to comfort the other man.</p><p>"Let's go." Jay said, grabbing Tim's wrist, "We need to go find her, nobody wants her dead." He said, "But-" Tim protested. "Please, Tim." He huffed, looking at him with a plead in his eyes. "Alright. Fine." Tim sighed.</p><hr/><p>Gre was really starting to reconsider wearing heels. However, it was for dress code purposes and she doesn't really have a choice. She arrived at the scene, the cryptic was there, a flamethrower in his hands and a fuel tank on his back. He stared at her for what seemed like hours. "Where's the other one?" She asked him, He didn't respond. The weapon he was holding was turned off though. </p><p>"Answer me." Gre demanded, pointing the RPD at him. The cryptic raised his hands, dropping the firearm. Gre lowered her firearm. "You're not working together. I know. Did you kill him?" She stepped towards the cryptic, kicking away the flamethrower when she was close enough. "Who are you?" She asked, glaring daggers at him. The man in the yellow hoodie tackled her, pushing her to the ground.</p><p>They both fought for a few minutes, mostly Gre overpowering the man. "Tch, for a tall guy, you're really weak." She growled at him, pushing him and finally pinning him to the ground. She held both of his wrists behind his back with one hand and sat on his back, preventing him from escaping. She pulled the mask off and was shocked to see a familiar face.</p><p>"God dammit, do you not know?" She spoke, her glare getting stronger. The man below her looked around, the fire getting near them, the smoke started to fill in, but Gre seemed like a strong woman, she could have better lungs. "Fuck, do you not know the trouble you've caused for me?" She pushed down harder, Brian grunted in pain. "Jay's worried sick, he'll be disappointed. Don't you care about him?" She dug her nails into Brian's wrist, her anger building up.</p><p>"You really are a heartless fuck, no wonder why May never approved of you." She clicked her tongue and watched the fire closely. Gre still had a bit of time. "Alright. You love him do you? You always talked about your feelings for your partner. How much you wanted to marry him one day or whatever. I'll let you die here for all the troubles you caused." Brian pushed her off him and grabbed his masked, he quickly put it back on and ran off, leaving the woman shocked.</p><p>Gre's lungs were already filled up with smoke, she could barely move. Her grip must've gotten weaker. She took too long. Gre shifted into a more comfortable pose. She leaned against a tree and hugged her knees. "Heh, Jay's going to be so upset." She uttered to herself before passing out.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Brian is the cryptic in the yellow hoodie?!?!?!?!?<br/>woAHHH!H1h!H!HH!!H!!!!!</p><p>Unedited, too busy with school rn</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Ask Yourself, The Answer Lies Within.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm sOOOOOO tired its like 10pm rn and I<br/>want to step on a child right now. Grind them into nut dust and sell it to the black market,<br/>Im so mad.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"No." Gre raised her hand up to Jay's face, the brunette was confused as she did so. All he did was ask for who the cryptic was. "But-" "I said no. In this world, you have to start figuring things by yourself. If I lie, I'll lead you the wrong way, so you're going to figure out clues instead of trying to run up to him and grabbing his mask." She interrupted him again. </p><p>"Why won't you tell me?" Jay asked, "You're not a child anymore, Jaynothan." Gre spoke, grabbing Jay's hand. "I would've told you who he is, but you need to figure it out yourself." She squeezed his fingers tightly, Jay didn't seem to mind. "But- you- I..." He stammered. "What if I come to visit and you're...gone? I'm not worried about this case, I'm worried about you." He informed, setting his hand on hers.</p><p>Gre flinched a bit, it was true she was a little harsh on him, but Jay would always have his head up high and always made sure Gre knew that he was gonna make her proud, she stared into his eyes, determination, worry and sadness was all in there, but if she looked deeper, she would find an undying respect and loyalty to the woman he looked up to. "Greatela, you're like a mother to me, I'm going to get back at the man who did this to you." Jay suddenly said.</p><p>"He's caused enough for trouble for me to-" Jay paused. "make sure he doesn't hurt anyone ever again." Gre was almost scared by the tone of that, Jay sounded like the real killer here. However, she didn't say anything, she didn't warn him, she didn't tell him who the cryptic was and she didn't protest. "When you make a promise to someone, you do know that you have to fulfill it no matter what?" She asked.</p><p>"Cross my heart." Jay moved his hand away and traced an X over his chest. "I'm going to miss you." He lowered his head after a few seconds of silence went by. "I don't know what I'd do without you." Jay said, his voice strained by the urge to cry. "You don't have to kill him if you don't want to." Gre reassured him and moved her hand to his shoulder. "You don't deserve that kind of pressure."</p><p>"It's not pressure. I want to do it." Jay gulped and furrowed his brows at her. "Whoever hurts you," He paused. "Won't get away with it." The woman could feel heat rising to her face, she felt flattered, but scared at the same time. "I'll see you soon." She smiled, Jay nodded before leaving the room. When he closed the door and took a step into the hall, he bumped into someone, he hit his nose first and moved back, hands over it.</p><p>"I'm so sorry are you hurt?" A man, his voice was familiar, but not quite at the same time. "no, I'm-" Jay looked up and lowered his hands. A blonde man with snowy blue eyes, he wore a tan jacket and a white t-shirt. His jeans were stained with some dirt and his hair was really messy, but other than that, his cheeks were lightly tinted with pink. "You must be detective Jay Merrick, do you remember me? From back in college? I'm Seth," he introduced.</p><p>He reached a hand out to greet Jay, but the shorter brunette just sighed. "Yeah, I remember you. Why are you here?" He asked. "I'm just visiting a friend, but decided to go for a stroll. Wanna walk with me?" Seth beamed. Jay rolled his eyes. "Looks like I'm attracting dudes this week." He muttered to himself. "I'm busy, but it's nice seeing you." Jay said before walking past him. "Oh, alright! I'll see you around." Seth waved.</p><p>The blonde man then turned around and looked at the room at Jay came out of. "Greatela Grenderson Grell. Interesting name." He uttered to himself. Seth turned around and was a little startled to see someone standing in front of him. "Seth?" His voice was a little hoarse. "Tim?" Seth replied, "What are you doing here?" The dark haired man asked. Seth looked down at the flowers that Tim were holding. "Is that for Greatela?" The blonde male asked.</p><p>"Actually, only close friends can call her that. Yeah, they're for Gre. How'd you guess?" Tim looked down at them as well, a little flustered. "Jay just walked out of that room, you both are partners, so I figured." Seth answered casually. "Are you and her...?" Tim shook his head eagerly. "No no, she's the chief, Jay respects her a lot, and I just work for her, that's all." He said. "Did the arsonist in Rosswood get her here?" Seth asked.</p><p>"Yeah, you don't happen to know what happened to Brian, do you?" They were both exchanging questions while standing in the hall, probably leaving a lot of nurses and doctors confused. "No, but I know who might." Seth uttered, unfortunately, Tim heard. "Who?!" He asked, a little more excited. "Ask yourself. The answer lies within." Seth said mysteriously before walking away.</p><p>Tim blinked before thinking to himself. "I'm not good with riddles-" He spoke, but Seth had already left. Which was strange, it takes a while to get out of the building. He shrugged before stepping into Gre's room. "Gre," He spoke, getting her attention. The blonde woman rose and raised a brow at him. "What?" She asked. Tim chuckled nervously at the tone of her voice.</p><p>"How are you doing?" He asked, a smile on his face. "Fine. I'm just tired." The woman replied, brushing a strand of golden hair behind her ear. "If you don't mind, I'd rather want to have a nap." Tim took out the flowers and set them on the hospital room nightstand. "Yeah," He spoke while doing so. "I just came here to give you those, and...say thank you."</p><p>"Talk to Jay." Gre said out of the blue. "Huh?" Tim was confused. "Talk to him, he's upset and he might do something he'll regret." The blonde one said, "Convince him to step out of the promise he made to me." Tim raised a brow at that. "The promise was..?" "The arsonist of Rosswood, I know who he is. Jay's going to hunt him down, you can't let that happen." Gre quickly explained.</p><p>"But doesn't he deserve it?" Tim asked, "Ask yourself, the answer lies within." She calmly said before laying down and turning the other way. Tim got the idea and left. Why did she say that?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Short because people are expecting a chapter but its been probably a while month</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. A Night To Never Be Forgotten.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The chapter that everyone has been waiting for, and this is also the chapter that everyone dreaded for.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Did you figure out who the cryptic was?" Tim asked, sitting down on the crappy motel bed as he took a towel and dried his wet hair. "No, Gre refused to tell me." Jay replied, biting the end of his pen. He was frustrated and confused. "Stop pushing yourself so hard, the arsonist won't get away with anything. Besides, Alex seems to be on our side." Tim rolled his eyes and sighed.</p><p>"He's creepy." The brunette sitting at the desk in the top center of the room commented, not turning his head to meet Tim's gaze. "Sure." The taller man said, rolling his eyes once more. "I can literally feel you rolling your eyes because you feel disappointment. Alex feels like bad news." Jay said, actually turning around now. "I feel like he's on his own side, working with something terrible..."</p><p>Tim grumbled, "Suddenly you can feel paranormal shit?" The man spoke, standing up and walking to the bathroom to hang the now wet towel on the rack. "I'm not psychic, I just- have these gut feelings." Jay uttered, crossing his arms and slouching in his chair. He let out a small pout as Tim stepped out of the washroom and sat on his bed again. "I never got to know Alex that well anyway. All I remember is him screaming at Seth for bringing his dog and not recording during breaks."</p><p>The dark haired male thought for a moment. "You both sat down a lot to talk." He commented. "For scripts, I never knew that guy that well. Brian introduced him to us, remember?" Jay said, "I always thought Alex was a jerk, and I was right. He's still a jerk." Tim rearranged his pillows and leaned back on them, keeping his eyes on his partner across the room.</p><p>"Let's talk about other things, how about...crushes? Did you have a crush on anyone growing up?" The dark haired man asked, raising a brow at Jay suggestively. The brunette lit up red, he looked away and scoffed. "No. Why? Nobody deserved me anyway." He said, spinning his chair around so he could continue writing down ideas and clues on how to find out the arsonist's identity. </p><p>"Nobody but...?" Tim moved his hand in a way that gestured Jay to finish the sentence. Though Jay can't see, he knew that the brunette understood. "Nobody!" "Really? Blonde, blue eyes and a golden smile. Does that ring a bell?" Tim hummed, rolling his eyes for the third time this night. "Brian? Oh, he's just a friend." Jay denied, shaking his head. "If he asked you out, would you say yes?" The taller male asked, giggling quietly.</p><p>"I don't know. What about you?" Jay raised a brow. "Well, I'd say no. I see Brian as a little brother, not someone I can start a serious relationship with." The dark haired male answered. "Not what a meant, besides- that's a relief." Jay muttered the last part. "Oh, my crushes? I have seen a lot of girls back in school, yeah." Tim hummed, his mind whirring as he tried to remember.</p><p>"I can't remember. But you wanna know something really cool?" Tim suddenly beamed, sitting up straight and getting Jay's attention. "I still have some tapes for when we recorded Marble Hornets." The brunette raised a brow and made an 'uh-huh, sure' face. "No, seriously. We can watch the <em>recordings</em>." The light bulb in Jay's brain lit up. <em>If we record the events of this case, we can replay videos and check out what happened in each of them to study clues!</em></p><p>"I got it! Tim, what time is it?" Jay asked, his expression changing from 'bored' to 'excited'. "Uh- 6pm." His partner responded. "We need to go to the store. Come on." Jay got up and grabbed his leather jacket, he put on his hat and adjusted his bracelets before running to the front door and put on his boots. Tim grabbed his fur jacket and his bag before putting on his own shoes and opening the door.</p><p>"Why are we going to the store?" Tim asked at the two made their way to Tim's car. "I need to buy 2 things. Well, more, but yeah." Jay replied, chuckling tiredly a bit. His ass ached because was sitting down for so long, but he needed to get to the store and get a camera. As well as some tapes. When they both got in the car, Jay got all excited. "Why are you so energetic all of a sudden?" Tim asked, pulling out of the parking space.</p><p>"I just had an idea. We need to get stuff though. So, here's what I've figured about so far about the arsonist." Jay started, clasping both of his hands together as if he was trying to clap to a school play. "He's definitely athletic. His body shape is mostly muscular. He can obviously run with a heavy metal gas tank on his back as well as carry a heavy firearm." </p><p>Tim nodded as Jay spoke, gesturing that he was listening. "It must be someone we know. Why else would Gre not tell me? Probably someone she thinks we care about." The brunette thought. "Alex is in Rosswood, he's the most likely suspect. Same goes to Seth. He said he came to Alabama to see a 'friend', but he doesn't have any!" Jay said, Tim glanced as him with a confused face. "That makes no sense." He said.</p><p>"Seth wouldn't have any. He's a loser. Anyway, Alex and Seth are our main suspects. If Amy or Sarah are in town, it couldn't be them, because the arsonist is a man." Jay thought once more. "Are you not going to suspect Brian?" Tim asked, "No, I've already debunked him." Jay answered, bringing his index finger to his chin. "Brian wouldn't ever do something like this, I know him. I know his body shape, personality and basically, everything all too well."</p><p>"I'm gonna say it right now, you're creepier than Alex." Jay's partner said. "Anyway, go ahead, tell me about your idea." Suddenly gunshots could be heard from outside, it was dark and nobody was around. Tim stops the car and pulls up by the side of the road. He steps out and looks around. "Tim, get back in there! Are you asking to be killed?!" Jay warns, he steps out of the car and grabs Tim's arm.</p><p>"Someone might be hurt...we need to go see what's going on." Tim says, he locks the car and walks down the sidewalk. "Tim...Tim!" Jay nags. "Jay, we need to see what's going on, even if you only investigate paranormal stuff, you have the responsibility to protect others and save them." The dark haired man says, looking back at the shorter man. "Ah...fuck, fine." Jay lets go of Tim. "Woah, hey, I never said you needed to let go." He crosses his arms. </p><p>"What?" Jay furrowed his brows and hit's Tim's arm. "I was kidding. We need to look for where that shot came from." Tim sighs, "No need to." A familiar voice came from in front of them. Jay immediately steps in front of Tim. "What do you want?" Jay asks, examining the taller of the 3. There was a gun in Alex's hand. "I warned both of you, but you both ignored me." He raised that gun and pointed it at Jay.</p><p>The brunette wasn't trembling in fear, he wasn't scared or anything. "Are you not afraid to die?" Alex raised a brow. "What? Why would I be?" Jay crossed his arms. "Because..I'm pointing a gun at you? I could shoot you any second, you know." Alex cocks his head to the side. "I've got nothing left to lose." Jay shrugs. "You have nothing left to lose? pffttt....have you forgotten about Tim?" Alex asks.</p><p>"Oh. Yeah, I did." Jay turns his head a bit. "Jay, lookout!" Tim grabs Jay's torso and quickly dashes away as a gunshot rang out. Tim slips and falls down, Jay falls with him. "Tim!" Jay's partner quickly clasps his hand over his mouth. "Shh...come on, we need to get out of here." Tim quietly crawls away, the darkness being a big help. "Come back here!" Alex demands, Jay scrambles to follow Tim.</p><p>"What do we do?" Jay whispers, catching up to the Tim. His partner stops and pressed his back against a big tree, tempting to hide. "Come here." Tim directs, Jay gets closer. The dark haired man pulls him over, wrapping his arms around Jay, he holds him close. "What do you think you're doing?" Jay whines, still whispering. "Shh," Tim shushed him. Jay crossed his arms and slouched.</p><p>The sound of Alex's footsteps fade away as he walks farther and farther. Tim sighs in relief. "Are you okay?" He asks, looking down at Jay. "Mm...I will be, once you get off me!" Jay shoves his arms off him. "S-Sorry, I was worried that he would see you." Tim apologizes. Jay huffs and crossed his arms, "Did you h-hear? I...I said that I had nothing left to lose." He grumbled.</p><p>"Even so...I didn't want you to die." Tim responds. Jay softens his expression. The brunette was about to stand up, that is until Tim grabs his shoulders and pulls him closer. "Jay." He says, their faces closer than Jay has ever been with anyone. "I like you." Tim confesses. Jay's breath catches in his throat. "I think I do, at least. I like being with you, I hate being away from you, I've never felt this way about anyone before."</p><p>Jay could hear Tim swallow and breathe. "I know you like Brian, but...I couldn't keep it in anymore. I love you, Merrick." The dark haired man leaned in a bit more, their noses brushing. Jay let out a confused breath. "You...like me?" Jay finally managed to say. Tim nodded. "Oh you...like me...you...do..." Jay looks down. Tim leans in more, their lips brushing against each other.</p><p>It doesn't last long, Jay pulls away. "Ah, Tim..." He looks away. "I'm sorry I..." Tim moved back, letting go of his partner. "It's...complicated." Jay sets his palm over his lips. "That's...alright, I understand." Tim nods.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sorry it took so long. I planned to post this in November, but uhm-<br/>Something came up, I guess I was so overwhelmed that I forgot lolololol</p><p>I'm busy, so don't expect a lot of updates.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Relasp</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next day wasn't as awkward as they both thought it would be, they said their good mornings and they did what they usually did in the morning. Jay would try to connect the dots in this case and Tim would be out having a smoke break for god-knows-how long. Then, they would leave for Rosswood in the afternoon.</p><p>Jay was pretending last night never happened and it bothered Tim a bit, he would remember the events of last night and mentally hit himself out of embarrassment.</p><p>"We should keep looking for the hooded guy." Jay says as the two walk onto the trail of Rosswood. "Yeah, I...agree." Tim replies, looking around, the brunette sighed, taking out his phone, he dialed a number. Tim's eyes trailed onto his partner as he heard the tone. Jay ended the call after nobody picked up and tried again. "Who are you tryna call?" Tim asked, leaning down a bit to Jay.</p><p>"Brian." Jay answers, he sounded a bit irritated, it wasn't strange, Tim was used to it by now. "Maybe he didn't have his phone on him the day he went missing." Jay put his phone away, shrugging. Suddenly, they stopped at a split road. "Huh..." Jay hummed, looking both ways. "I don't remember this being here last time." Tim comments, Jay nods his head, agreeing with his partner. "We should split." Jay says, Tim looked at him as if he was crazy.</p><p>"Are you kidding me? That's-" "Are you worried about me?" Jay cuts Tim off, looking at him with a raised brow. Tim just simply nodded. "Don't worry Tim, I can defend myself, I'm not a baby." Jay laughs a bit. "If there's a dead end, turn around, call me if you find something." Jay walks down the right trail, leaving Tim standing there, the dark haired man rolled his eyes and walked down the left.</p><p>After hearing the leaves crunching under his shoes for what seemed to be 10 or 15 minutes, Jay stops, looking around. He hears something, probably an animal but you can never be too sure. He walks towards the sound. Something black and covered in rust caught his eye. Jay leaned over to a large bush to get a better view, it was an abandoned car.</p><p>What was this doing here? Jay walks to it, he takes his phone out and dialed Tim's number, Jay moved to stand in front of it. It was black, it was kinda small and it was dirty. Looks like it's been here for a few months, no burn marks, surprisingly. Tim finally picked up after the 4th tone. "Hey, I found-" A force hit his back, pushing him onto the hood of the car, Jay turns around, throwing his arms up, Alex stands there.</p><p>Jay eyed the gun in his hand, the man in glasses seemed to notice the stare. "What? This? Want me to show a demonstration?" Alex smirked, Jay furrowed his brows, "Jay?" Tim's voice cut through the ringing in his ears, Alex pointed his gun at Jay's phone before gunshot rang out, making Jay's ears ring even more. "A-Ah- my phone!" Jay gasps out, moving to kneel down- but suddenly Alex grabbed his hoodie and shoved him back onto the hood the car.</p><p>Getting in between the brunette's legs, he struggled to pin Jay down. The brunette kicked and screamed at him. "Stop it! Get off me!" He yelled, shoving Alex, the man in glasses grumbled in frustration, the moment Jay's mouth opened again, he shoved the barrel of the gun into Jay's mouth, making him shut up and stop moving. "Not so squirmy and loud anymore, huh?" Alex asked, shoving the gun into his mouth even more.</p><p>The smaller of the two winced, gagging a bit. "I warned you, and that night, you still refused to listen to me. If you keep getting involved, I'm going to have to get rid of you." Alex says, leaning towards Jay. "Don't think that just because you're with the police I'm gonna be scared of you." Alex rolled his eyes, "You think you're so cocky, you think you can do anything you want. Look at you now." Alex eyed his body.</p><p>Jay shifted in discomfort. "I'll blow your fucking brains out, this is your last warning." Alex threatened. Jay grabbed his wrist, tightly gripping it as Alex pushed the gun into his mouth further. "Don't even try." Alex growled, Jay's eyes started to roll to the back of his head and Alex was off him suddenly. Jay gasps, holding an arm to his throat. His vision blurry as he looks to his right.</p><p>Someone was on Alex, they seemed to be fighting. "A-Ahkgh..." Jay groaned, rubbing his throat as the faint outlines of the figure and Alex cleared, he could make out a mustard yellow jacket with belts wrapped on the back of the figure. It was the hooded man in the gas mask. The arsonist. Jay reached into his pocket and took out a taser, slowly standing up, he slowly walked towards the figure.</p><p>Alex had stopped struggling and the arsonist turned around towards Jay before struck,he didn't pause or hesitate. Jay threw himself onto the figure,his wrist was grabbed by the hooded man, keeping Jay from stunning the guy. "You killed Gre!" He choked out, using all of his strength to try and strike the man. The arsonist stood his ground, keeping Jay away.</p><p>Jay raised his arm far enough for the arsonist to let go before he takes his hand and grabs it, stopping the arsonist so he can't stop Jay. "Jay!" Tim called from the dirt road. Jay turned around for a brief moment. The hooded man grabs the taser out of Jay's hand before pushing him off, taking Jay's only defense away. "Come back here coward! Come back!" Jay yelled, standing up.</p><p>Tim caught up and grabbed Jay's arm before he could run after the murderer. "Jay! Stop that!" Tim yelled, "Can't you see the condition your body is in?!" The brunette looked at him, a glare full of hatred. "You stop! You're in the way, you always are!" Jay screamed at him. Tim was surprised, shocked even. "Let go of me! Let go of me now!" Jay pulled on his arm.</p><p>"No. If you die, I'll never forgive myself." Tim's grip tightened, Jay pulled on his arm. "You'll get yourself killed! You don't know what he's capable of! We have a lead, see?!" Tim points at Alex's unconscious body. Jay stares at him. "Look at yourself Jay, aren't you ashamed?! Aren't you embarrassed?! You say you can do anything but in the end you fuck it all up and look like an idiot."</p><p>Jay blinks, he softens in Tim's grip. "Now tell me, what happened?" He asks, Jay sucks in a shaky breath. "Alex almost killed me, then the arsonist came by and stopped him before you came by." The brunette sighs. "Okay. Let's get Alex back to the car and we'll take him to a police station." Tim says, letting of Jay's arm to set his hand on his shoulder. "Yeah."</p><hr/><p>Once they got Alex into the backseat of the car (handcuffed of course), they drove to the nearest police station. Alex was awake that time, asking questions and yelling insults to the two with no response. </p><p>The officers were familiar until Jay realized they were Scott and Mike from that <em>one</em> night, even remembering the events of it made Jay sick to his stomach. "Timothy!" Scott greeted, "Scott." Tim nods at him. "Who's this?" Scott asks, looking at Alex. "You got an arrest warrant?" Mike asks. Jay mentally slapped himself in the head, "Yeah." Tim responded, relieving Jay.</p><p>"When did you get one?" Jay asks as they make their way inside. "Back before we met. Gre gave me one for potential suspect." Tim responded, Jay nods. After a few minutes, they finally got Alex into an interrogation room. Tim took his try first while Jay watched. "What were you doing in Rosswood, Kralie?" Tim asks, Alex didn't answer. "Why did you try to shoot Jay?" Tim asks, leaning closer.</p><p>Alex didn't answer again. Tim sighs. "Listen oka-" "What's the point of answering your questions? I'll be outta here before sundown anyway." Alex sneered, Tim furrowed his brows. "Careful with what you're saying, Alex." Tim says in a low voice. "Don't underestimate me. You think you're so strong and brave, but I know the real you." Alex let out a deep chuckle.</p><p>Before Tim could slam his hand on the table and shout back, Jay comes in, slamming his hand on the table instead. "Enough." He says. "Alex." Kralie looked at him, Jay swore he could see a red glint in his eyes. "Who is the arsonist." Jay demanded to know, Alex opened his mouth but Jay grabbed his turtle neck sweater, leaning in dangerously. "I know you're gonna make another smug remark."</p><p>He says, "Tell us who it is, and maybe you'll get off easy." Alex twisted his body a bit, Jay losing his grip. "Like I knew either. If I found out who he was, I'd tell you a long time ago." Alex says. "Fine, what were you going in Rosswood then?" Jay asks instead, The man in the sweater glanced at Tim, then at Jay. "I'm always there." Alex replies, "So you just admitted to trespassing because Rosswood is closed down." Tim jumps in.</p><p>"Did you both not see the faceless creature?" Alex asks. Jay looks at Tim with a questioning look, Tim looking back at him with the same expression. "Let's step out for a moment." Tim says, Jay glances at Alex before the two leave the room, standing outside in the empty hall. "So..." Tim raised a brow. "Faceless..." Jay uttered to himself. "Jay, maybe y'know, Alex is just on something-" "What?!" Jay interrupted him before Tim could even punctuate his sentence. </p><p>"Alex isn't like that!" Jay crosses his arms. Tim opens is mouth but Jay raises his hand firmly, Tim presses his lips together and looks away. "Tim, I don't know what kind of ideas you've been having these past few days, but just stop now. I've never been so stressed before and- I can't take this anymore. I might just give up on this case." Jay explains. Tim doesn't make a comment. "If you want to stay on it, I'll stay on it with you, but please just stop talking and acting without thinking."</p><p>Jay walks away and down the hall. Tim stands there, placing one of his gloved hands over his eyes, he sighs briefly before opening the door to the room. "Don't cause any trouble." Tim says before following after Jay.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Surprise! I uhm...<br/>I'm sorry I haven't updated this story in a while, I was ignorant and I know a lot of people actually enjoyed this story. I promise I'll try harder to update it from now on. The limit will 15-20 chapter depending on how long I want Jay and Tim's love arc to be. I rushed a bit last chapter so 🤔</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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